I'm a nature girl, a wild child. If I don't get outside every day, I get a little tense. If I don't go hiking at least once a week, I get a little twitchy. And it's not really a hike for me unless there's sweating, dirt, rock, danger, altitude, and maybe even a little bleeding as well.

I've hiked in 100+ heat, blizzards, pouring rain, lightning storms, and the dead of night. I've seen bears, eagles, coyotes, deer, elk, moose, rattlesnakes, Black Widows, and slugs eleven inches long. Haven't seen Sasquatch or a cougar yet but I've got my fingers crossed. I've found gem quality smokey quartz, mahogany obsidian, and aquamarine. I've climbed 23 of the tallest mountains in the contiguous 48 states, some of them more than once, most of them solo, none of them with ropes. My goal is to witness an erupting volcano, a minor earthquake, and a tsunami--all from a safe distance, of course, and preferably not all on the same hike. But it could happen.

I wish I was outdoorsy. I think I would be if I had an outdoorsy friend.

Honestly my desire to be outdoorsy battles with my tendency to be a whimp and girly. For instance: I wish I liked to camp. I really do. But I just can't deal without plumbing and a nice comfy bed and I don't like bugs.

Absolutely. I love any outdoor activity. If I dont get to be out in nature I get depressed. I heavily dislike cities, luckily I live in a forest.I do a lot of motorized things outdoors which probably is not the most nature-minded but where I live its pretty much the norm, like atving and snowmobiling. But I love hiking, canoeing, camping, horseback riding, etc. Thats really cool that you have hiked all those mountains. I would like to do some serious mountain climbing some day.

lobsteriffic wrote:I wish I was outdoorsy. I think I would be if I had an outdoorsy friend.

Honestly my desire to be outdoorsy battles with my tendency to be a whimp and girly. For instance: I wish I liked to camp. I really do. But I just can't deal without plumbing and a nice comfy bed and I don't like bugs.

I was raised by a camping family, lobsteriffic, and got so good at it that, at one time, I actually preferred it to living in a house. Then, something happened and I suddenly began worshiping hot showers and clean, dry sheets. I still have all my gear but I don't know when it's going to come out of hibernation.

Northstar wrote:Absolutely. I love any outdoor activity. If I dont get to be out in nature I get depressed. I heavily dislike cities, luckily I live in a forest.I do a lot of motorized things outdoors which probably is not the most nature-minded but where I live its pretty much the norm, like atving and snowmobiling. But I love hiking, canoeing, camping, horseback riding, etc. Thats really cool that you have hiked all those mountains. I would like to do some serious mountain climbing some day.

Those mountains I did were mostly Class 3's and under. Try to imagine setting a StairMaster or Gauntlet machine on the steepest, toughest setting and just doing that for 5 to 8 hours. Except with fresher air and a better view. You could do them, no problem, as long as you don't have an issue with heights. (The other hikers might stone you to death if you showed up at the trailhead on a snowmobile or ATV, though.) I did a few technical routes that would induce sphincter clenching in most, Kelso Ridge stands out in my mind as the most fun. http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/1 ... ridge.html As you can see from the photos, an agile pair of legs can pretty much just walk right up most of it, as long as you don't look down to the 800' drop on either side. Many rope up for it but I abhor a lot of gear, don't even carry a knife with me when I solo in the wild. There's a quote I like from an old John Wayne movie that goes, "Only a man who carries a gun ever has to use one." Yup.

hsorlando wrote:I love nature, but I also love hot showers, comfy beds, and being bug free! In other words not a camping type of person.

Believe it or not, me, too. I used to be an expert at "roughing it" and I still can if needs be but the allure of clean sheets sliding smoothly over a warm, freshly-scrubbed body is far too great a draw. I've even evolved past hotels--it's a private cabin or nothing! Won't ever sell my camping equipment, though. Too much nostalgia.

Jessifly wrote:I am outdoorsy girl in the Pac NW as well! What mountains have you climbed Baby Herc?

Well, as a previous Coloradan, it's hard for me to claim any of the Pacific Northwest summits I've done as "mountains." I'm used to starting at about 10000' and ascending to over 14000'. Our Mt. Hood is only around 11000'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood As I lack technical gear and the interest in lugging it around, I stick to things I can scramble so I haven't officially summited any of our volcanoes yet. I've done Munra Point on the edge of the Columbia River, though, fifteen hundred vertical feet in around a mile--definitely not for the weak of leg nor acrophobic! http://www.nwhiker.com/CGNSAHike22.html

I've gotten as high as you can get on Mt. Hood without roping up, a place aptly named Tie-In Rock. It's where climbers tie-in to each other for safety around 8514' above sea level. Actually, I went a little past that point but I ran out of daylight, so I had to turn around before I got to touch a glacier. My next adventure report, the one I'm working on now, documents that rather spooky day. Stay tuned. http://www.summitpost.org/route/155414/cooper-spur.html

Yeah, I love that quote. So glad another Portlander appreciates it! It encapsulates everything I believe in rather nicely.

I am a previous Coloradoan as well, although I've summited more mountains here than in Colorado, I was more of a backpacker there, but I'm the gear-toting, rope-tying-into climber type here! haha Well nice to meet you and happy trails!!

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. What the world needs is people who have come alive."~Omar "PureHeart"

I love to hike and enjoy the nature around me. The only mountains near me are the Smoky Mountains which I call hills. I lived in Colorado for a short spell. Now those were mountains. I've only ever done two trails on two mountains and I don't remember the name of the one I climbed in California but I like mountain hiking. Its a very nice change from trail hiking around a lake or big hills.

If you are what you eat and you don't know what you're eating, do you know who you are?

mysticxian wrote:I lived in Colorado for a short spell. Now those were mountains. I've only ever done two trails on two mountains and I don't remember the name of the one I climbed in California but I like mountain hiking.